24-02-1946

Perón elected in Argentina

Juan Domingo Perón, the controversial former vice president of Argentina, is elected president. He was imprisoned the year before, but appeals from workers and his charismatic wife, Eva Duarte de Perón, forced his release. As president, Perón constructed an impressive populist alliance, and his vision of self-sufficiency for Argentina won him wide support. However, he also became increasingly authoritarian, jailing political opponents and restricting freedom of the press. In 1952, his greatest political resource, his wife Evita, died, and support for him dissolved. Three years later, he was ousted in a military coup. In 1973, after 18 years of exile, he returned to Argentina and again won the presidency. His second wife, Isabel de Martinez Perón, was elected as vice president and in 1974 succeeded him upon his death.